The Athletics are winless to start off August, dropping eight consecutive games overall. Are they the worst team in Major League Baseball?
Results
FRI: DET 13, ATH 1
The Athletics got on the board first as Jonah Heim doubled home Jacob Wilson in the bottom of the 1st inning. Kevin McGonigle tied things up with a solo HR in the 3rd, then put Detroit ahead with a sacrifice fly in the 4th. Those were the only two runs allowed by Jeffrey Springs, who went four innings and gave up four hits and struck out two. He also walked five batters. Hayden Juenger pitched a scoreless 5th and Brady Basso added two scoreless frames in the 6th and 7th. Then, things went sideways for the A’s.
Basso returned to the mound to pitch the 8th, his third inning of relief. He allowed a leadoff double, then a single, then an RBI double. Luis Morales entered with zero outs and runners on second and third. He allowed runs to score on an infield single and a fielder’s choice, making it 5-1. Morales walked the bases loaded before finally recording an out. Then, Dillon Dingler blew things open with a grand slam. Coming back out for the 9th, Morales allowed a single, double, and another single (two runs scored) to begin the frame. Ben Malgeri took him deep for a two-run HR and the final two runs of the 13-1 blowout. The Tigers finished with 14 hits compared to just three from the A’s.
SAT: DET 8, ATH 6
Kevin McGonigle led off the Saturday matchup with a solo home run off of Jack Perkins. Colt Keith added an RBI single to make it 2-0 in the 1st inning. Lawrence Butler responded in the 3rd with an RBI single and Jacob Wilson tied it up in the 4th as he plated Henry Bolte on a fielder’s choice. Gleyber Torres put the Tigers back in front with a two-run home run in the 5th before star prospect Max Clark hit his first MLB home run an inning later, making it 6-2. Spencer Torkelson and McGonigle added RBI singles in the 7th and 8th.
Bolte cut the lead in half with a three-run HR in the 8th. Jeff McNeil’s RBI bunt single made it 8-6, but Bolte flew out to left to end the game. McNeil’s bunt seemed to anger closer Kenley Jansen as the two exchanged words after the final out amidst some light benches-clearing action. Meanwhile, during this game, the Tigers made the biggest trade of the deadline as they sent Tarik Skubal to the Dodgers.
SUN: DET 11, ATH 0
Looking to avoid the sweep, it was Gage Jump getting the start for the A’s. Unfortunately, the promising rookie didn’t have his best stuff on Sunday. He allowed a two-run double to Spencer Torkelson in the 1st inning. In the 4th, he walked back-to-back batters before allowing back-to-back singles, the latter scoring two runs. After striking out Dillon Dingler, his outing ended with another walk. Elvis Alvarado relieved him and immediately allowed a two-run double to make it 6-0 before he got a flyout to end the frame. Jump’s line on the day ended up being four hits, six walks, five strikeouts, and six earned runs in just 3.2 innings.
Alvarado, Hogan Harris, and Hayden Juenger kept the Tigers off the board for the 5th, 6th, and 7th. Ben Bowden, called up before the game on Saturday, did not keep them scoreless in the 8th by any means. After getting a leadoff flyout, he walked Gleyber Torres, hit Dingler (who advanced to second on a wild pitch), and walked McGonigle to load the bases. Eduardo Valencia hit a two-run double, followed by a Torkelson RBI single and an RBI groundout from Hao-Yu Lee. James Outman took Carlos Cortes deep in the 9th to cap off the scoring. The Athletics finished with seven hits, six of them singles, in the blowout, sweep-clinching loss.
TUE: CIN 5, ATH 4
J. T. Ginn and Brady Singer kept both offenses off the board for the first three innings. The A’s broke through first as Tyler Soderstrom led off the 4th inning with a double and scored on a single by Jeff McNeil. In the 5th, Jacob Wilson’s RBI double scored two more runs to make it 3-0. The Reds answered back in the bottom of the frame. Elly De La Cruz plated a pair of runs with an RBI single, advancing to second on the throw in from left field. A wild pitch allowed him to move up to third and Sal Stewart’s sacrifice fly brought him home to tie the game at three.
With two outs in the 7th, Henry Bolte singled to center and then stole second. Lawrence Butler hit a groundball to Elly, but the star shortstop bounced the throw to first. That allowed Butler to reach safely and Bolte to score the go-ahead run. Hogan Harris entered to pitch the 8th, looking to hold the one-run lead. He walked the first two batters (De La Cruz and Stewart). After a strikeout, Tyler Stephenson’s flyout allowed both runners to tag up and advance, which becomes a crucial piece to the inning. On an 0-2 pitch to Eugenio Suarez, Harris’ high and away fastball got by Jonah Heim to allow Elly to score the tying run and Stewart to get to third. Then, with the count full to Suarez, a low and inside fastball became the second wild pitch of the at-bat and allowed Stewart to score and put the Reds up 5-4. Despite two singles in the 9th, the A’s couldn’t tie it up and dropped the series opener.
WED: CIN 3, ATH 2
Leading off, Lawrence Butler put the A’s ahead on the sixth pitch of the game as he hit a solo home run off of Rhett Lowder. The Reds answered back in the 2nd inning as Jose Trevino singled home Noelvi Marte to tie the game. Matt McLain took Jacob Lopez deep in the 5th with a solo shot. The soft-tossing Lopez had a nice outing overall, pitching five innings and allowed the two runs (on four hits) while striking out nine.
Jonah Heim hit an RBI double in the 6th to bring the score level again. Hayden Juenger, who relieved Lopez, allowed back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the 6th. After getting the first out of the frame, Marte hit a sacrifice fly to put Cincinnati back in front. The Athletics went down in order in the 7th, 8th, and 9th against an underwhelming Reds’ bullpen to lose their seventh straight game.
THU: CIN 6, ATH 5
A day after Lawrence Butler hit a leadoff home run, Elly De La Cruz returned the favor in the series finale. Tyler Soderstrom answered for the A’s with a two-run RBI single in the 4th inning. Jonah Heim scored on a double play later in the inning to make it 3-1. That lead was promptly erased as Sal Stewart and Tyler Stephenson hit solo home runs in the bottom of the 4th to tie the game.
Mason Barnett loaded the bases in the 5th before Elvis Alvarado relieved him. Unfortunately, Alvarado was not sharp and walked back-to-back batters to put the Reds ahead, 5-3. JJ Bleday added an insurance run, which would prove to be crucial, with a solo shot in the 7th. Brian Severn’s two-run home run in the 9th made it a one-run game, but there was no tying run to be found as the A’s dropped their eighth straight game.
What Else?
- How bad are the Athletics? Well, there are a lot of different metrics to look at for answers there, but let’s focus on just a few of them. .08 is the difference in winning percentage between the A’s and baseball’s worst team, the Los Angeles Angels. The A’s are tied at .391 with the Colorado Rockies. Speaking of the Rockies, they have a -108 run differential, the second-worst in baseball. The Athletics have an unfathomable -157 run differential. Lastly, they have not won a series since mid-June when they beat the aforementioned Rockies at Las Vegas Ballpark. They have lost 13/14 series since then with a four-game split with the Angels as the outlier.
- A tiny silver lining in the midst of this brutal stretch has been the improved play from Lawrence Butler. Inked to long-term deal, Butler struggled in the second half last season and was off to a terrible start this season (wRC+ of 52 in March/April and 26 in May). In his last 15 games, he’s slugging .533 and has a .346 OBP. Any positive individual developments within the roster will be welcome to the ballclub as they continue to struggle as a team.
- After being a central figure of the 2025 trade deadline, this week’s deadline featured just one minor deal for the Athletics. They acquired reliever Seth Johnson from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for outfielder Colby Thomas. The 25-year-old Thomas, a third round pick in 2022, put up a .628 OPS over 234 MLB at-bats with ten home runs. A competitive balance pick (#40 overall) by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019, Johnson was traded to the Orioles, then the Phillies prior to arriving in Sacramento. He debuted in 2024 and logged a 7.18 ERA in 27 appearances (31.1 innings). In over 330 minor league innings, he has 382 strikeouts and a 3.13 ERA. While he didn’t get consistent run with contending Philadelphia, he could finally get on track with a steady role in the floundering Athletics’ pen. He made his debut for the club on Thursday and struck out four in two innings, allowing three hits, including one home run.
System Spotlight
Drew Burress (Low-A): When it comes to making a first impression, the 8th overall pick from last month’s draft…well…knocked it out of the park. In his first professional at-bat, the Georgia Tech product hit a home run. He added a two-run home run yesterday.
Braden Nett (Triple-A): A top ten prospect in the system per MLB Pipeline, Nett has had a rocky 2026. He was injured to start the season, returned, then went back on the IL. In his last five starts for Las Vegas, he has walked an alarming 24 batters in just 12.2 innings. Overall, the 24-year-old, acquired in the Mason Miller deal, has an 8.59 ERA in 22 Triple-A innings.
Jamie Arnold (Double-A): On Wednesday, the star lefty threw 5.2 innings against Frisco, allowing just two hits and striking out nine. He’s made 20 starts for Midland this season, after being the 11th overall pick in 2025, and the 22-year-old has a 3.84 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 96 innings.
What’s Next?
The Athletics will travel to Fenway Park for a weekend series against the Red Sox. Then, they welcome the Tampa Bay Rays to Sutter Health Park.
(Top photo of Lawrence Butler, courtesy: Athletics)
